The Clean Cloud Act of 2025 would amend the Clean Air Act to create a nationwide framework for collecting electricity-use data from certain computing facilities and to establish emissions standards (an emissions performance standard) tied to the electricity those facilities consume. Specifically, facilities over a 100 kilowatt-peak information technology load—covering data centers and cryptomining facilities—would be subject to annual data reporting requirements, with information gathered from both facility owners and their electric utilities. The bill also imposes an emissions-based fee regime on both utilities and the facilities themselves for emissions above region-specific baselines, starting in 2026, and would devote collected funds to federal administration, consumer energy-cost relief, and grants to support zero-carbon energy generation and long-duration storage. Public disclosure of key facility-level energy and emissions data is required, subject to confidential business-information protections. These provisions aim to increase transparency, drive reductions in energy use and greenhouse-gas intensity, and promote investments in clean generation and storage. In short, the act creates a data-collection and emissions-fee system designed to quantify and limit the electricity-related emissions of data centers and crypto mining operations, while directing revenue toward administrative costs, consumer relief, and clean-energy investments. It also includes specific definitions, baselines, and phased reductions culminating in a zero-emission baseline by 2035, with potential adjustments if regional grid emissions change.
Key Points
- 1Data collection and public transparency: The Administrator, with the Energy Information Administration, must annually collect facility- and utility-supplied energy-use data for all covered facilities (data centers and cryptomining facilities over 100 kW) and make certain data publicly available (including facility location, type, owner, total electricity consumption, and greenhouse-gas-emissions intensity). Some information remains confidential business information unless publicly released.
- 2Definitions and coverage: A covered facility is any data center or cryptomining facility with more than 100 kW installed IT nameplate power. The law defines data centers, cryptomining facilities, electric utilities, and a region (per the Department of Energy’s National Transmission Needs Study). Leased facilities may be treated as separate covered facilities or as owned by the tenant, depending on leasing arrangements.
- 3Emissions Performance Standard and baselines: The bill creates a region-based baseline for greenhouse-gas emissions intensity of electricity used by covered facilities, to be published by the end of 2025. The baseline is reduced over time (through 2034) and reaches zero in 2035 and thereafter. There are provisions for alternative baselines if regional grid emissions fall below the baseline.
- 4Fees and enforcement: Beginning in 2026, two parallel fees apply: (A) on electric utilities serving covered facilities and (B) on the covered facilities themselves, each calculated based on electricity consumed and the facility’s emissions intensity above the regional baseline. Fees escalate annually (inflation plus a fixed increment) and are subject to annual notifications and payment deadlines. Utilities are prohibited from passing the fee to non-covered customers; regulators can impose penalties if violations occur. There are also exemptions for power sourced entirely from zero-carbon assets and adjustments if the grid’s emissions intensity changes relative to the baseline.
- 5Use of funds: Revenues fund three programs: (a) 3% for administration of the reporting and fee program; (b) 25% to aid consumer energy-cost relief (rebates or efficiency programs to offset cost increases); and (c) 70% for Clean Firm grants (to accelerate zero-carbon generation assets that run reliably year-round and long-duration energy storage, with grant recipients subject to certification and potential clawbacks if commitments aren’t met).
- 6Leased arrangements and scope: The act provides rules for when a tenant or sub-leased portion constitutes a covered facility and who is considered the owner for purposes of the fees and reporting.